Saturday, October 11, 2025 Letter from the Editor // Dear Sister, On the Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time we hear about the miraculous healing of people from the disease of leprosy (which was otherwise incurable at that time) in both the First Reading and the Gospel. In these stories, we see two people outside God’s covenant with Israel come to faith in the one, true God and offer Him thanksgiving and worship. Like the men in the Readings, we too have been healed of a disease we cannot cure on our own—the disease of our sin. The Lord has made a way for us to “obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 2:10). He wants to heal us as many times as we fall, because He wants us to be with Him forever.  In our Baptism, we are plunged into the water like Naaman was plunged into the Jordan, and we are made clean (see 2 Kings 5:14). Saint Paul tells us that we “have died with him” in Baptism so that “we shall also live with him” (2 Timothy 2:11). Naaman had to plunge into the Jordan seven times, and like him the Lord invites us to plunge into His grace many times. When we fall into sin, we are invited to go to the Sacrament of Reconciliation—ministered to us by a priest—and receive the Lord’s cleansing grace again and again. It does not matter how many times we turn away in unfaithfulness, our God will always remain faithful. Let us turn to Him in thanksgiving for the gift of healing and salvation and “sing to the Lord a new song”of praise (Psalm 98:1). In Christ’s Love, Susanna Read the Readings for the Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time:  First Reading // 2 Kings 5:14-17 Psalm // Psalm 98:1, 2-3, 3-4 Second Reading // 2 Timothy 2:8-13 Gospel // Luke 17:11-19 Live Liturgically // This Week’s Feast Days Saturday, October 11 (today!) // Optional Memorial of Saint John XXIII, Pope  Sunday, October 12 // Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time Tuesday, October 14 // Optional Memorial of Saint Callistus I, Pope and Martyr Wednesday, October 15 // Memorial of Saint Teresa of Jesus, Virgin and Doctor of the Church Thursday, October 16 // Optional Memorial of Saint Hedwig, Religious // Optional Memorial of Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque, Virgin Friday, October 17 // Memorial of Saint Ignatius of Antioch, Bishop and Martyr  

Saturday, October 4, 2025 Letter from the Editor // Dear Sister, On the Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, the Psalmist calls us to listen for the Lord’s voice “[f]or he is our God, and we are the people he shepherds” (Psalm 95:7). We are reminded to worship and  “kneel before the LORD who made us” (Psalm 95:6). As creatures, dependent on God, worship and obedience are the response which we are meant to give to our Creator and Savior. In the Gospel, Jesus talks about those who faithfully serve God as “unprofitable servants” (Luke 17:10), but if we look deeper into the story of our salvation we know that we have been gifted with His friendship as well. He has given us everything out of His deep love for us, and simply asks for us to give everything we have in return. Saint Paul tells us that grace is abounding in our daily lives so that we can in every moment “bear [our] share of hardship for the gospel with the strength that comes from God” (2 Timothy 1:8). Sister, we are living in the promise—God is present in the world and is bringing about the salvation He promised through the prophet Habakkuk in the First Reading. But He also has promises for us, that this salvation will come to fruition in our lives today. You may be waiting for fulfillment now, of a hope not yet realized. The Lord’s perfect timing is not our own;, He wants us to make an act of  increased faith and reminds us, that whatever we are waiting for, “if it delays, wait for it, it will surely come, it will not be late” (Habakkuk 2:3).  In Christ’s Love, Susanna Read the Readings for the Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time:  First Reading // Habakkuk 1:2-3; 2:2-4 Psalm // Psalm 95:1-2, 6-7, 8-9 Second Reading // 2 Timothy 1:6-8, 13-14 Gospel // Luke 17:5-10 Live Liturgically // This Week’s Feast Days Saturday, October 4 (today!) // Memorial of Saint Francis of Assisi //  Sunday, October 5 // Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time Monday, October 6 // Optional Memorial of Saint Bruno, Priest // Optional Memorial of Blessed Marie-Rose Durocher, Virgin [In the Dioceses of the United States] Tuesday, October 7 // Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary Wednesday, October 8 // Wednesday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time Thursday, October 9 // Optional Memorial of Saint Denis, Bishop and Martyr, and his Companions, Martyrs // Optional Memorial of Saint John Leonardi, Priest Friday, October 10 // Friday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time  

Saturday, September 27, 2025 Letter from the Editor //Dear Sister, “Lay hold of eternal life, to which you were called” (1 Timothy 6:12), Saint Paul implores us in the Second Reading on the Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time. He makes it sound like something we can grasp and hold on to, and in one sense, it is. The choices we make reflect whether we have laid hold of eternal life or not. We can choose to “pursue righteousness, devotion, faith, love, patience, and gentleness” and “compete well for the faith” (1 Timothy 6:11-12). The Gospel and the First Reading give us a clearer picture of what this looks like. The Gospel shows us a rich man suffering in the netherworld, a rich man who spent his whole life focused on himself and his own pleasure. Every day, he ignored the man Lazurus who was lying at his door in poverty. Amos gives us a similar image as he warns the rich of his time that “their wanton revelry shall be done away with” and they will be the first to go into the Babylonian exile (Amos 6:7). Part of our call to lay hold of eternal life is to start seeing the poverty of those we encounter and pass by every day. Poverty looks like a homeless human person, suffering on the corner, whom we can relieve through showing love with a kind word and material aid. Poverty can also be something harder to identify that dwells in the lonely human heart, the anxious teen, the angry commenter online. The Lord is inviting us to “[secure] justice for the oppressed” and “[give] food to the hungry” (Psalm 146:7), showing them His merciful love with patience and gentleness. In Christ’s Love, Susanna Read the Readings for the Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time:  First Reading // Amos 6:1a, 4-7 Psalm // Psalm 146:7, 8-9, 9-10 Second Reading // 1 Timothy 6:11-16 Gospel // Luke 16:19-31 Live Liturgically // This Week’s Feast Days Saturday, September 27 (today!) // Memorial of Saint Vincent de Paul, Priest Sunday, September 28 // Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time Monday, September 29 // Feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, Archangels Tuesday, September 30 // Memorial of Saint Jerome, Priest and Doctor of the Church Wednesday, October 1 // Memorial of Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus, Virgin and Doctor of the Church Thursday, October  2 // Memorial of the Holy Guardian Angels  

Saturday, September 20, 2025 Letter from the Editor // Dear Sister, On this Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Jesus gives us a firm reminder that to follow Him, we must follow Him all the way, with our whole selves. He tells us, “No servant can serve two masters”  (Luke 16:13), and we have to consider this within our hearts. Do we serve God and God alone, or are we divided and focused on the things of this world? Are we like the wealthy whom the prophet Amos criticizes in the First Reading, ready to work on the sabbath and scheming to increase our wealth and status? Do we fully rest from our work as we ought on Sunday? Do we let go of our worldly concerns and make an offering of our income to the Lord to our parish and charitable organizations? Do we give of our time and talent to our community and those in need?  When we are generous with what the Lord has given us, our hearts are more receptive to knowing and accepting the truth of the Gospel. Saint Paul writes in the First Reading, God “wills everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4). He calls us to this because He knows we need Him more than we need anything else. This Sunday, we can turn to the Lord, and with humility, ask Him to show where we need to give more of ourselves to Him. We can offer Him the little we have to Him. He wants us to be lowly before Him, so that He can raise us up from the dust of sin and seat us beside Him where we belong as daughters of God (see Psalm 113:7-8). In Christ’s Love, Susanna Read the Readings for the Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time:  First Reading // Amos 8:4-7 Psalm // Psalm 113:1-2, 4-6, 7-8 Second Reading // 1 Timothy 2:1-8 Gospel // Luke 16:1-13 Live Liturgically // This Week’s Feast Days Saturday, September 20 (today!) // Memorial of Saints Andrew Kim Tae-gŏn, Priest, Paul Chŏng Ha-sang, and Companions, Martyrs Sunday, September 21 // Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time Tuesday, September 23 // Memorial of Saint Pius of Pietrelcina, Priest Friday, September 26 // Optional Memorial of Saints Cosmas and Damian, Martyrs  

Saturday, September 13, 2025 Letter from the Editor // Dear Sister, On this Sunday, we celebrate the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross marking the finding of the Holy Cross, the very one on which Jesus was crucified, by Saint Helena in the fourth century in Jerusalem. In the Gospel, Jesus explains how the bronze snake from the First Reading from Numbers prefigures His Death on the Cross: “And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up” on the Cross, “so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life” (John 3:13, 14). Like the Israelites, freed from slavery in Egypt, we often complain about how hard it is to live in freedom from sin. Our daily struggles with sin are like the snakes that bite the Israelites and make our souls sick. When we look upon Christ on His Cross, our own little crosses become a means of our healing.  How fickle we often are, unfaithful to God’s covenant with us. But the Lord, “being merciful,” forgives our sin and destroys us not (Psalm 78:38). He gave all for us, for “Christ Jesus, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped” (Philippians 2:6). No, instead He showed us how to embrace our littleness, to acknowledge that we need the Father’s outpouring of love at every moment of our day. And when we truly know our need for a Savior, deep in our hearts, and humble ourselves to embrace all our sufferings, then we will be exalted with Him, Whose name is exalted above all names. Let us bend our knee before the Cross, and thank the Lord for His great mercy. In Christ’s Love, Susanna Read the Readings for the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross:  First Reading // Numbers 21:4b-9 Psalm // Psalm 78:1bc-2, 34-35, 36-37, 38 Second Reading // Philippians 2:6-11 Gospel // John 3:13-17 Live Liturgically // This Week’s Feast Days Saturday, September 13 (today!) // Memorial of Saint John Chrysostom, Bishop and Doctor of the Church Sunday, September 14 // Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross Monday, September 15 // Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows Tuesday, September 16 // Memorial of Saints Cornelius, Pope, and Cyprian, Bishop, Martyrs Wednesday, September 17 // Optional Memorial of Saint Hildegard of Bingen, Virgin and Doctor of the Church // Optional Memorial of Saint Robert Bellarmine, Bishop and Doctor of the Church Friday, September 19 // Optional Memorial of Saint Januarius, Bishop and Martyr  

Saturday, September 6, 2025 Letter from the Editor // Dear Sister, As we prepare for the Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time, I am delighted to call you my sister in Christ, like Saint Paul called his friend Onesimus in tomorrow’s Second Reading. Paul gently encourages Philemon to see the runaway slave as a brother, a member of the Body of Christ. Like Onesimus, we who have been baptized have also been freed from slavery: slavery to sin, slavery to our possessions, slavery to living our own way. The Lord “will not do anything without your consent” (Philemon 9:14), but in the Gospel gently invites us to come after Him without any attachments to things that keep us from loving Him. In order to carry our cross with the Lord, we have to drop everything else but what we need for the journey.  We might find that as we grow closer to the Lord, we do not understand what He is asking us to do. Why does He want us to give up this thing that is good? Why is He calling us down this path that has no clear end in sight? Why are we suffering from this chronic illness or loss? “Who can know God’s counsel, or who can conceive what the LORD intends?” (Wisdom 9:13) We need to entrust all that we are and have to the Lord, asking Him for his gift of wisdom and to send His Holy Spirit “from on high” (Wisdom 9:17). We must go to the Lord as our refuge and pray to “gain wisdom of heart” (Psalm 90:12) to trust in His ways for us. And then our paths will be “made straight” whether we can clearly see the end or not (Wisdom 9:18). In Christ’s Love, Susanna   Read the Readings for the Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time:  First Reading // Wisdom 9:13-18b Psalm // Psalm 90:3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 14 and 17 Second Reading // Philemon 9-10, 12-17 Gospel // Luke 14:25-33 Live Liturgically // This Week’s Feast Days Sunday, September 7 // Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time Monday, September 8 // Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Tuesday, September 9 // Memorial of Saint Peter Claver, Priest Friday, September 12 // Memorial of the Most Holy Name of Mary  

Saturday, August 30, 2025 Happy Saturday, friend! We are so excited to share with you what's coming up this week as we all prepare our hearts by praying with readings for Sunday, the day of rest with our Lord. Live Liturgically // This Week’s Feast Days Sunday, August 31 // Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time Wednesday, September 3 // Memorial of Saint Gregory the Great, Pope and Doctor of the Church Friday, September 5 // Optional Memorial of Saint Teresa of Calcutta, Virgin Letter from the Editor //  Dear Sister,  On the Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time we hear a call to “conduct your affairs with humility” (Sirach 3:17)—to see ourselves as little and as loved as we truly are, created by an omnipotent God Who gave us all we have. But He is also a God Who wants to give us more and more. He wants us to love and serve Him humbly, so that He can raise us up beside Him in Heaven at the “wedding banquet” that will be our life in Heaven. Like those in the Gospel, we are “the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind” who are invited to the Lamb’s Supper and are unable to repay the Lord for the gift of being created by Him, loved by Him, and redeemed by Him (Luke 14:13-14). He does not ask us to make ourselves great, but simply to receive and return His love.  He shows His love with His grace, which is a “bountiful rain” that is “showered down” upon us (Psalm 68:10). It is given to us through “Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant” and His “sprinkled blood” which makes the “spirits of the just” perfect (Hebrews 12:23-24). When we willingly receive this gift of grace, our lives are changed—we are changed now and into eternity. It is only because God humbled Himself to become a Man that we can now approach the heavenly Jerusalem, never fearing to touch and be touched by the living God in the Holy Eucharist where Heaven touches earth. Sister, let us humbly accept this gift and never take it for granted. In Christ’s Love,  Susanna Read the Readings for the Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time:  First Reading // Sirach 3:17-18, 20, 28-29 Psalm // Psalm 68:4-5, 6-7, 10-11 Second Reading // Hebrews 12:18-19, 22-24a Gospel // Luke 14:1, 7-14  

Saturday, August 23, 2025 Happy Saturday, friend! We are so excited to share with you what's coming up this week as we all prepare our hearts by praying with readings for Sunday, the day of rest with our Lord. Live Liturgically // This Week’s Feast Days Saturday, August 23 (today!) // Optional Memorial of Saint Rose of Lima, Virgin Sunday, August 24 // Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time Monday, August  25 // Optional Memorial of Saint Louis of France // Optional Memorial of Saint Joseph Calasanz, priest Wednesday, August 27 // Memorial of Saint Monica Thursday, August 28 // Memorial of Saint Augustine, Bishop and Doctor of the Church Friday, August 29 // Memorial of the Passion of Saint John the Baptist Letter from the Editor //  Dear Sister,  On this Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time, the Readings open with a beautiful image of the Lord gathering people from “nations of every language,” and then sending from them fugitives out to “distant coastlands” so that His glory is proclaimed to the nations (Isaiah 66:18-19). We see how from before the coming of Christ, the Lord planned to bring all people to Himself and to His “holy mountain” to make an offering of worship (Isaiah 66:20). We see this same hope repeated by Jesus in the Gospel as He prophesies that “people will come from the east and the west and from the north and the south and will recline at table in the kingdom of God” (Luke 13:29).  Sister, the Lord invites us to be a part of the people coming to live with Him forever. However, responding to His invitation is only the first step. The second step is the actual journey—the journey of our lives as daughters of God. In the Gospel, Jesus tells us how many will strive for Heaven “but will not be strong enough” (Luke 13:24). Thankfully, the Lord offers us His grace to help us on the way. He loves us so much as His children, that He helps us love Him more through offering us “discipline” which we receive with docility and let it change us. The Lord allows us to experience our hardships so that we can offer them to Him, unite them with Jesus’ redemptive act of suffering. They can become a means of sanctification if we “endure [our] trials as ‘discipline’” (Hebrew 12:7). When we think about it in this way we can see that “the fidelity of the LORD endures forever” (Psalm 117:2). In Christ’s Love,  Susanna Read the Readings for the Twenty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time:  First Reading // Isaiah 66:18-21 Psalm // Psalm 117:1, 2 Second Reading // Hebrews 12:5-7, 11-13 Gospel // Luke 13:22-30

Saturday, August 16, 2025 Happy Saturday, friend! We are so excited to share with you what's coming up this week as we all prepare our hearts by praying with readings for Sunday, the day of rest with our Lord. Live Liturgically // This Week’s Feast Days Saturday, August 16 (today) // Optional Memorial of Saint Stephen of Hungary Sunday, August 17 // Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time Tuesday, August 19 // Optional Memorial of Saint John Eudes, priest Wednesday, August 20 // Memorial of Saint Bernard, Abbot and Doctor of the Church Thursday, August 21 // Memorial of Saint Pius X, Pope Friday, August 22 // Memorial of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary Letter from the Editor //  Dear Sister,  In the Readings for the Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, we witness the zeal of Jesus to draw all people to Himself. “I have come to set the earth on fire!” He cries out in the Gospel (Luke 12:49). But He also recognizes the reality of free will and sin. The truth causes division, anger, and hate, because when we are attached to sin and set in our ways, we find the person who speaks the truth to be intolerable. Like the princes in the First Reading from Jeremiah, we tend to criticize someone who speaks the truth to us. Rather than humbly face our faults, we cast that person out and wish him or her to leave us alone. Only when we let the blazing fire of love burn away our selfish desires, do we become open to the Lord and the truth. With the example of the “cloud of witnesses” of the Saints who came before us to those running this race alongside us, we are not alone in our desire to become holy; we can be inspired and helped by our fellow members of the Body of Christ to “rid ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us” and “persevere in running the race” (Hebrews 12:1). Within the Church and united to Jesus, we will endure His Cross with Him, as we give up our attachments to sins and face our trials. We can “look on in awe and trust in the LORD,” Who is our help and deliverer (Psalm 40:4). May we press on, bearing it all, “for the sake of the joy that lies before us” (Hebrews 12:2). In Christ’s Love,  Susanna   Read the Readings for the Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time:  First Reading // Jeremiah 38:4-6, 8-10 Psalm // Psalm 40:2, 3, 4, 18 Second Reading // Hebrews 12:1-4 Gospel // Luke 12:49-53

Saturday, August 9, 2025 Happy Saturday, friend! We are so excited to share with you what's coming up this week as we all prepare our hearts by praying with readings for Sunday, the day of rest with our Lord. Live Liturgically // This Week’s Feast Days Saturday, August 9 (today) // Optional Memorial of Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, Virgin and Martyr (also known as Saint Edith Stein) Sunday, August 10 // Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Monday, August 11// Memorial of Saint Clare, Virgin Tuesday, August  12 // Optional Memorial of Saint Jane Frances de Chantal, Religious Wednesday, August 13 // Optional Memorial of Saint Pontian, Pope and Martyr, and Saint Hippolytus, Priest and Martyr Thursday August 14 // Memorial of Saint Maximilian Kolbe, Priest and Martyr Friday, August 15 // Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Letter from the Editor //  Dear Sister,  On this Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, we pray along with the psalmist a prayer that is in the hearts of all people of faith: “Our soul waits for the LORD, who is our help and our shield” (Psalm 33:20). But we know from experience that it is hard to wait, and that waiting well is even harder. We see this in the parable Jesus gives in this Sunday’s Gospel about the servants waiting for the return of their master. Jesus tells us that our waiting is not something we do idly, but that we “also must be prepared” (Luke 12:40). The book of Wisdom tells us about the Israelites who waited for deliverance in Egypt, how they had faith in the Lord on the night of Passover, a night which prefigured Christ’s offering as the Lamb of God. In another prefiguring of Christ, Hebrews tells us that “by faith Abraham obeyed” and was ready to sacrifice his son, and because he acted in faith he received back what he offered to the Lord. Like Abraham and his descendants, we will one day die “in faith,” having received some of the resurrection life we hope in and that we have been promised—but in this vale of tears we only “[see] and [greet] it from afar” (Hebrews 11:13). So, we must live as people of faith, realizing what is hoped for, believing what is not seen—always ready for the coming of the Lord by keeping close to Him through prayer and by receiving the Sacraments. And when the Lord calls us to Himself, He will find us “vigilant” (Luke 12:37). In Christ’s Love,  Susanna Read the Readings for the Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time:  First Reading // Wisdom 18:6-9 Psalm // Psalm 33:1, 12, 18-19, 20-22 Second Reading // Hebrews 11:1-2, 8-19 Gospel // Luke 12:32-48

Saturday, August 2, 2025 Happy Saturday, friend! We are so excited to share with you what's coming up this week as we all prepare our hearts by praying with readings for Sunday, the day of rest with our Lord. Live Liturgically // This Week’s Feast Days Saturday, August 2 (today!) // Optional Memorial of Saint Peter Julian Eymard, Priest // Optional Memorial of Saint Eusebius of Vercelli, Bishop Sunday, August 3 // Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Monday, August 4 // Memorial of Saint John Vianney, Priest Tuesday, August  5 // Optional Memorial of the Dedication of the Basilica of Saint Mary Major in Rome Wednesday, August 6 // Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord Thursday, August  7 // Optional Memorial of Saint Sixtus II, Pope and Martyr, and his Companions, Martyrs // Optional Memorial of Saint Cajetan, Priest Friday, August 8 // Memorial of Saint Dominic, Priest Letter from the Editor //  Dear Sister,  This Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time comes at the height of summer in the Northern hemisphere, a time when farms and gardens are producing a bountiful harvest, just like the one Jesus speaks about in the Gospel. As we partake of the fresh produce, it is a good time to examine the fruits we produce with our lives. Are we “rich in what matters to God”(Luke 12:21)? The parable of the rich man who dies and leaves his riches behind is a poignant reminder that all earthly things are vanity. Yes, our bodies are important to provide and care for—but the Lord does not want us to have “anxiety of heart” over our possessions (Ecclesiastes 2:22). Instead He would have us entrust our earthly needs to the “gracious care of the LORD our God” and ask Him to “prosper the work of our hand for us” (Psalm 90:17)! He would have us trust to His providence that when we use our gifts well, we will have what we need. Saint Paul tells us that we “were raised with Christ” and our lives should reflect this here and now, for our “life is hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:1, 3). So often our daily work feels like vanity, things that are easily undone, things that have to be done again and again, or things that pass away quickly. However, we have something eternal to add to our work  if, when we do it, we are seeking “what is above” (Colossians 3:2). Only with the help of the Lord will we produce a bountiful harvest that will have eternal fruit, for the Lord has redeemed even the work of our hands. In Christ’s Love,  Susanna Read the Readings for the Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time:  First Reading // Ecclesiastes 1:2; 2:21-23 Psalm // Psalm 90:3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 14 and 17 Second Reading // Colossians 3:1-5, 9-11 Gospel // Luke 12:13-21  

Saturday, July 26, 2025 Happy Saturday, friend! We are so excited to share with you what's coming up this week as we all prepare our hearts by praying with readings for Sunday, the day of rest with our Lord. Live Liturgically // This Week’s Feast Days Saturday, July 26 (today!) // Memorial of Saints Joachim and Anne, Parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary Sunday, July 27 // Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Tuesday, July 29 // Memorial of Saints Martha, Mary, and Lazarus Wednesday, July 30 // Optional Memorial of Saint Peter Chrysologus, Bishop and Doctor of the Church Thursday, July 31 // Memorial of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, Priest Friday, August 1 // Memorial of Saint Alphonsus Liguori, Bishop and Doctor of the Church Letter from the Editor //  Dear Sister, Abraham was held up as a model for us last Sunday, and we can learn from him again in the First Reading for the Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time. Abraham knows the Lord and trusts in His merciful heart as he pleads for the hypothetical innocent people of Sodom, a city the Lord is ready to destroy because of their widespread sin. He reasons and persists with the Lord, and the Lord listens to him. We can come to our own knowledge of the depths of the Lord’s mercy, when we consider the words of Saint Paul: “even when you were dead in transgressions [. . .], he brought you to life along with him” (Colossians 2:13). The Lord does not wish harm to any of His creatures, especially us humans, who were made in His image.  While He allows evil—because part of being made in His image is having a will free to choose (or not choose) the good—He will always bring about our good in the end when we persistently seek and turn to Him. As we grow in our relationship with Him, we sometimes might feel like He is not listening to our prayers. We ask again and again, but do not receive what we ask for. Sister, the Lord reminds us in the Gospel that He knows better than we do that which we need. He will always give us “our daily bread and forgive us our sins” and the “Holy Spirit to those who ask him” (Luke 11:3-4, 13). With the Psalmist, let us trust Him and pray, “When I called you answered me; you built up strength within me” (Psalm 138:3).In Christ’s Love, Susanna Read the Readings for the Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time:  First Reading // Genesis 18:20-32 Responsorial Psalm // Psalm 138:1-2, 2-3, 6-7, 7-8 Second Reading // Colossians 2:12-14 Gospel // Luke 11:1-13  

Saturday, July 19, 2025 Happy Saturday, friend! We are so excited to share with you what's coming up this week as we all prepare our hearts by praying with readings for Sunday, the day of rest with our Lord. Live Liturgically // This Week’s Feast Days Sunday, July 20 // Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Monday, July 21 // Optional Memorial of Saint Lawrence of Brindisi, Priest and Doctor of the Church Tuesday, July 22 // Feast of Saint Mary Magdalene Wednesday, July 23 // Optional Memorial of Saint Bridget of Sweden, Religious Thursday, July 24 // Optional Memorial of Saint Sharbel Makhlūf, Priest Friday, July 25 // Feast of Saint James, Apostle Letter from the Editor //  Dear Sister, On the Sixteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time, the Readings teach us about two key parts of our growth in holiness: being present to the Lord in both the active life of service and the contemplative life of prayer. The sisters Martha and Mary in the Gospel model these two ways for us. Martha serves the Lord in her work, showing us the importance of attending to our duties. When she  is “burdened with much serving,” she brings her cares to the Lord, and He reminds her of her need to be in His presence (Luke 10:40-41). Mary, with her “better part,” sits at the Lord’s feet and shows us how to pray (Luke 10:42). In the First Reading, the Lord appears to Abraham as three men, which points us to the reality of God as a Trinity. Abraham welcomes the Lord, offers rest and refreshment, and waits “on them under the tree while they [eat]” (Genesis 18:8). We see in Abraham how to both be present to the Lord and serve the Lord. The Psalmist tells us, “He who does justice will live in the presence of the Lord” (Psalm 15:1). Everything we do is meant to be done with hearts present to the Trinity Who has dwelled within us since our Baptisms. The Lord’s presence in us “bring[s] to completion for [us] the word of God” (Colossians 1:25). From the beginning, the Lord has desired for us to be united to Him, and because God became a Man, died, and rose, we can now be made “perfect in Christ” (Colossians 1:28). In Christ’s Love, Susanna Read the Readings for the Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time:  First Reading // Genesis 18:1-10a Responsorial Psalm // Psalm 15:2-3, 3-4, 5 Second Reading // Colossians 1:24-28 Gospel // Luke 10:38-42  

Saturday, July 12, 2025 Happy Saturday, friend! We are so excited to share with you what's coming up this week as we all prepare our hearts by praying with readings for Sunday, the day of rest with our Lord. Live Liturgically // This Week’s Feast Days Sunday, July 13 // Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Monday, July 14 // Memorial of Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, Virgin [In the Dioceses of the United States] Tuesday, July 15 // Memorial of Saint Bonaventure, Bishop and Doctor of the Church Wednesday, July 16 // Optional Memorial of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Friday, July 18 // Optional Memorial of Saint Camillus de Lellis, Priest [In the Dioceses of the United States] Letter from the Editor //  Dear Sister, The Readings for the Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time draw us into a truth about our very existence. Saint Paul writes to us that “Christ Jesus is the image of the invisible God” and that with “all things” we were created “through him and for him” (Colossians 1:15, 16). Each of us was created to “love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself” (Luke 10:27). This may seem hard to do, but the Psalmist tells us that “The law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing to the soul” (Psalm 19:9). Only in following His law of love will we be who He wants us to be.  The Lord is not far away from us, nor do we have to seek the grace to follow Him “up in the sky” or “across the sea” (Deuteronomy 30:12, 13). No, sister, He and His Word are “very near to you, already in your mouths and in your hearts” (Deuteronomy 30:14). The call to follow Him is always before us. Like the Good Samaritan who saw the need of his neighbor and “treated him with mercy” (Luke 10:37), we are given the call to love our neighbor as ourselves every single day. The Lord is just waiting for us to say yes to His love and then with His help we will “have only to carry it out” in our daily lives (Deuteronomy 30:14). For this we were made.In Christ’s Love, Susanna Read the Readings for the Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time:  First Reading // Deuteronomy 30:10-14 Responsorial Psalm // Psalm 19:8, 9, 10, 11 (2nd Option) Second Reading // Colossians 1:15-20 Gospel // Luke 10:25-37

Saturday, July 5, 2025 Happy Saturday, friend! We are so excited to share with you what's coming up this week as we all prepare our hearts by praying with readings for Sunday, the day of rest with our Lord. Live Liturgically // This Week’s Feast Days Saturday, July 5 // Optional Memorial of Saint Elizabeth of Portugal [In the Dioceses of the United States] // Optional Memorial of Saint Anthony Mary Zaccaria, Priest Sunday, July 6 // Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Wednesday, July 9 // Optional Memorial of Saint Augustine Zhao Rong, Priest, and Companions, Martyrs Friday, July 11 // Memorial of Saint Benedict, Abbot Letter from the Editor //  Dear Sister,  After all the Sunday Solemnities of June, we find ourselves this first weekend of July on the Fourteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time. The priest’s green vestments remind us of green fields where the “harvest is abundant but the laborers are few” (Luke 10:2). The Gospel for tomorrow gets at the heart of what this time is about: it is a time to tell those we meet, “The kingdom of God is at hand for you” (Luke 10:9). The Lord wants to bring healing to the world and has chosen us to spread His message of love. He wants us to “declare what he has done for [us]” (Psalm 66:16) so that “all the earth” will “cry out to God with joy” (Psalm 66:2).  When people do not receive His message from us, He does not want us to be discouraged, but to shake the dust from our feet and come back to Him. We cannot do His work without being nourished by Him in the Sacraments and Adoration. We must let Him carry us in His arms and believe His words that “as a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you” (Isaiah 66:13). Through our suffering with Jesus as we do His work, He will make each of us into “a new creation” (Galatians 6:15). What He calls us to will not always be easy, but no matter what fruit we see of our labors, He tells us to “rejoice because your names are written in heaven” (Luke 10:20). In Christ’s Love,  Susanna Read the Readings for the Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time:  First Reading // Isaiah 66:10-14c Psalm // Psalm 66:1-3, 4-5, 6-7, 16, 20 Second Reading // Galatians 6:14-18 Gospel // Luke 10:1-12, 17-20  

Saturday, June 28, 2025 //  Happy Saturday, friend! We are so excited to share with you what's coming up this week as we all prepare our hearts by praying with readings for Sunday, the day of rest with our Lord. Live Liturgically // This Week’s Feast Days Saturday, June 28 (today!)// Optional Memorial of the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary // Optional Memorial of Saint Irenaeus, Bishop and Martyr Sunday, June 29 // Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles  Tuesday, July 1 // Optional Memorial of Saint Junipero Serra, Priest [In the Dioceses of the United States] Thursday, July 3 // Feast of Saint Thomas, Apostle Friday, July 4 // Independence Day [In the Dioceses of the United States] Letter from the Editor // Dear Sister, Tomorrow we celebrate the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul instead of having the regular Sunday readings. In the Gospel, we hear when Peter became one of the “Pillars of the Church,” our first pope. Peter makes his confession that Jesus is “the Christ, the Son of the living God,” and Jesus responds that it is His “heavenly father” that revealed this to Peter (Matthew 16:16-17). Jesus shows us that the only way for a mere human to lead the Church is for him to teach what is revealed by the Father. This is why we must follow the example in Acts when “prayer by the Church was fervently being made to God on [Peter’s] behalf” (Acts 12:5). Being pope is not easy, and while we can trust that the “gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against” the Church (Matthew 16:18), our new pope, Leo XIV, needs our daily prayers to lead the Church in truth and charity. Saint Paul is the Pillar of the Church who was sent personally by Jesus (after His Ascension) to evangelize those who were not Jews—he helped the Church see that Jesus came to save the whole world. He wrote many of the letters that make up the New Testament, and, like Peter, relied on the Lord, Whom he says, “stood by me and gave me strength, so that through me the proclamation might be completed and all the Gentiles might hear it” (2 Timothy 4:17). We can thank the Lord for the gift of His Apostles, pray for their successors who are our bishops, and trust that the “angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them” (Psalm 34:8). In Christ’s Love, Susanna Read the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles (Mass during the Day):  First Reading // Acts 12:1-11 Responsorial Psalm // Psalm 34:2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9 Second Reading // 2 Timothy 4:6-8, 17-18 Gospel // Matthew 16:13-19  

Saturday, June 21, 2025 //  Happy Saturday, friend! We are so excited to share with you what's coming up this week as we all prepare our hearts by praying with readings for Sunday, the day of rest with our Lord. Live Liturgically // This Week’s Feast Days Saturday,  June 21 (today!) // Memorial of Saint Aloysius Gonzaga, Religious Sunday, June 22 // The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ Tuesday, June 24 // Solemnity of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist Friday, June 27 // Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus Letter from the Editor //  Dear Sister, On tomorrow’s Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ we hear in the First Reading  about the man Melchizedek who is both a priest and king of Salem, which is the ancient site of Jerusalem. Melchizedek prefigures the Eucharist with his celebratory offering of bread and wine. In response, Abraham “gave him a tenth of everything” (Genesis 14:20). Sister, the gift of the Eucharist is God’s gift of Himself, His offering of His Body and Blood so that we can be united to Him. At our Baptism, we are given the character of priest, prophet, and king. When the Psalmist writes, “You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek” (Psalm 110:4), he is talking to both Jesus and us.  A priest’s role is to offer sacrifice. At every Mass, the priest offers the same Sacrifice that Jesus offered on the Cross. This is what Saint Paul means when he writes, “For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes” (1 Corinthians 11:26). We share in this sacrifice by offering “a tenth of everything,” through our monetary contribution to the collection, our daily commitment to prayer, and our offering of our will so that we may always do as the Lord wishes.  Our offering may seem as small as “five loaves and two fish” and not nearly enough (Luke 9:13), but we do not need to worry. He wants us to just give Him what we have, for the Lord can multiply even the most meager offering that comes from the heart. In Christ’s Love, Susanna Read the Readings for the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ:  First Reading // Genesis 14:18-20 Responsorial Psalm // Psalm 110:1, 2, 3, 4 Second Reading // 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 Gospel // Luke 9:11b-17